Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Delayed Spring

I shoveled snow at the Gardens again today and more snow is predicted for tomorrow. There's no sign of spring as I look out the window. I'll never forget 22 years ago when my siblings were arriving for Carlton's wedding. The leaves and blossoms were all out and everyone was surprised that West Michigan had such early springs. That year was an anomaly and so is this year. We've been doing inside work at the Gardens and hunkering down at home watching DVDs, including a couple of good movies, one being the Coen brothers version of "True Grit," starring Jeff Bridges who makes the movie funny and, as one reviewer put it, "no one ends up dead who didn't have it coming." It's a western, the first version (starring John Wayne who won an Oscar) "conveyed the threat of violence." This one doesn't and maybe that's why we laughed to hard at crazy Jeff Bridges. Most of what we've been watching are documentaries, fantastic ones on Isaac Newton, the Panama Canal, and Niall Ferguson's 6-part "Civilization: The West and the Rest."

We manage to get with family along the way. John was with his sister Mary and brother Steve this morning and here's a pic taken more than a week ago when daughter Laura came up from NC to spend a few days.

It's Tax Day, and as usual our tax accountant is last minute. I'd fire her if she wasn't so incredibly good at what she does, and she knows our complicated business and personal dealings inside and out.